Sausages...

Ok, so I am not one who cooks with sausages very often as I am not keen on the fat content. But today I was wondering what to make for dinner and realised that I had left out the frozen vegies which I had taken out when I was making lunch and they had completely defrosted. Obviously I had to use them right away but didn't really want to just heat them up and put them on the side of something else.

I browsed through my freezer and came across a packet of tomato and onion sausages I picked up only a few days ago for $2.00. Woolworths had a whole selection of sausages reduced for quick sale so I picked up these for the freezer and a pack of reduced fat ones which I cooked for lunch the next day. The low fat ones were only $3 which is pretty good really.

Looking out for cheap sausages and picking up a few packs when you find them can be an excellent money saver and a great ingredient for a quick meal. Or if you know you're having a BBQ some time soon grab a few packs and defrost them on the day of the BBQ. They will still fry up marvelously and taste fantastic.

But back to the sausages. One of my favourite things to do with sausages is curried sausages. This is not actually a particularly low fat meal (actually it's pretty disgustingly fatty when made a particular way) but served on rice with vegies... Brilliant! I shall share 2 ways of doing this. One is healthier than the other.

This is using uncooked sausages but it's also a great way to prepare some precooked sausages, especially if you've had a BBQ and are left with a mountain of leftovers.

First of all cut up your sausages into bite size pieces and fry them until they are about half cooked, making sure you stir them around a bit.

For a lower fat option, transfer sausages to some paper towel and allowe excess fat to drain off and remove as much fat from the pan as possible. This can be skipped if you prefer the more rich version.

For the lower fat version:

Pour enough water on the sausages to just cover them. Add some seasing and allow to simmer for a minute or 2.

Add some gravy mix or thicken the traditional way. Whilst I usually make everything from scratch, gravy mix is actually a fantastic way to keep some recipes a bit lower in calories. I only ever use the Gravox Brown Onion thought as the others leave a slightly odd taste. Some things you can afford to be choosy.

At this stage I add the curry. I use Keens Curry Powder which comes in a little orange plastic container. For this type of curry it's perfect (and also for curried eggs) as it's milder. I don't think this recipe should be burning hot, just with a bit of spice.

Throw in the vegies of your choice. In this case I used carrots, broccoli, cauli flower and green beans (the frozen vegies that were left out). They were defrosted to start with but if you add them earlier you can let them defrost in the sauce.

Allow to simmer on low heat for about 5 - 10 minutes. Once it's done I like to add a little light sour cream but you can add full fat or even a bit of normal thickened cream. That is optional though, depending on what you're after.

For the full fat version, instead of adding water to the half cooked sausages you can add cream, with a little water. Low fat cream works too. Add your seasoning, curry and defrosted vegies at this stage and let simmer until the sauce reduces and thickens.

This meal is best served with rice but works with potatos too. You can also decrease portion size by having a side of salad too, to cut down the fat.